The Preston, which pulled its first pint when the British Empire exhibition was staged at the newly-built Wembley Stadium in 1924, is back in business in Preston Road.
But the first record of the Preston neighbourhood was in 1220, the name coming from the Old English ‘preast and tun’ meaning the farm belonging to the priest, according to local historian Chris Coates of the Wembley History Society.
“The area attracted London merchants and courtiers over the centuries,” Chris says.
Visitors included Nicholas Brembre, twice Lord Mayor of London and one of Geoffrey Chaucer customs officers, who purchased Uxendon Manor at Preston Hill in 1376. He supported Richard II, facing off the Peasants’ Revolt at Smithfield in 1381 — but fell from grace and was executed in 1388.
The Manor had a secret underground escape tunnel for fugitive Catholic priests after the Reformation in the 16th Century. Its owner, Anthony Babington, was principal conspirator in a plot to assassinate Elizabeth I and was arrested there in 1586 and later executed.
Preston had its first tavern, the Horseshoe Inn, licensed in 1751. The present Preston pub opened in 1925 as The Preston Hotel, now refurbished with pub manager Reuben Leigh putting up the ‘welcome’ sign for “familiar faces and new friends”.
